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It’s a heck of a way to run a pre-election campaign. On the eve of an expected election, politicians usually spend their time playing up good news, downplaying the bad, shaking hands and kissing babies.

Munoz captures Indy Lights event

Opponents find rookie too slow on pit lane, too fast on track

Carlos Munoz sprays champagne at his group of supporters after winning the Firestone Indy Lights race at the City Centre Airport on Saturday.

Photograph by: Ed Kaiser
, edmontonjournal.com

EDMONTON - Carlos Munoz, a rookie driver in the Firestone Indy Lights series, admitted that perhaps he had been driving a tad bit too slow as he made his way down pit lane.

According to challenger Sebastian Saavedra, he was about 10 miles per hour too slow.

Munoz was anything but slow on the track at Edmonton’s City Centre Airport, winning his first race of the season, finishing ahead of second-place driver Saavedra and third-place finisher Esteban Guerrieri, who remains the series leader.

Munoz, in Andretti’s No. 26 Team Dialy-Ser car, went into the race with the pole position after the morning qualifying run, then came out on top of the 11-car field that saw the drivers switch from rain tires to slicks because of changing course conditions.

“On the radio, before we stopped, I said to the team that I didn’t know the pit lane speed limit. They said it was 30 miles … I couldn’t understand why, then I saw Sebastian. He tried to overtake me in pit lane,” said the Munoz, the 20-year-old Colombian driver who said that was his only moment of concern, having to make the second pit stop of his career. Pit stops are not fixtures in Indy Lights.

“Because you were super slow. I was thinking come on, push, push,” interjected Saavedra, who now has six podium finishes and is in second place in the standings with two races to go. In between Indy Lights races, Saavedra will race in Andretti’s fourth car when the IndyCar Series swings into Sonoma, Aug. 26.

“But Carlos did an unbelievable job. He was in a race (by) himself. There wasn’t much anyone could do.”

Saavedra’s previous best finish in Edmonton was third in 2009. Guerrieri, meanwhile, now has 351 points, 27 more than Saavedra and 28 more than Tristan Vautier, the only other rookie in the series who has won a race this season.

The pit road speed limit, for the record, was 45 m.p.h.

Star Mazda Championship

Camilo Schmidt of Linares Racing overcame a rain-soaked track to win the first of two Star Mazda races scheduled for the weekend. The support series, making its debut in Edmonton, featured a field of 19 racers.

The second race goes Sunday at 9:30 a.m.

Local driver Stefan Rzadzinski was 17th, well behind second-place finisher Sage Karam, one of two Andretti Autosport team members in the field, and third-place finisher Gabby Chaves.

Michael Andretti has been a regular fixture in the pits for Karam and Zach Veach, something the teenagers are acutely aware of.

“He makes us nervous,” said Veach, who finished ninth.

Karam, the pole sitter for Saturday’s race said: “He’s in the pits during practices, during qualifying and he’s at every race. But he’s always allowing us to go to the IndyCar drivers’ trailers to debrief with them. Last night we went to (James) Hinchcliffe’s trailer for about half an hour and just sat there.

“Michael is just a great supporter.”

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series

Scott Steckly will start on the front row when the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series returns to the track after a one-year hiatus.

The race, which wasn’t on last year’s calendar, goes Sunday at 10:30 a.m.

“It’s a fun track to race on, that’s for sure. We did pretty well on the old configuration, so we’re hoping to continue that success here,” said Steckly, who whipped around the track in 95.545, ahead of Andrew Ranger and J.R. Fitzpatrick in Saturday’s qualifying session. The track had been reconfigured before the 2011 event.

“We kept working on our car and the handling as we got familiar with the track and by the end of the last session we were up to second place, then made a few more adjustments and got the pole,” Steckly said.

Fitzpatrick is a two-time winner in Edmonton and has not finished worse than fourth in four starts here. Ranger won in 2009 and has won 12 of his 21 road course starts.

Steckly has been on the podium in his previous two trips to Edmonton. Both were third-place finishes.

Eurasia Cup GT Invitational

Edmonton’s Harold Schmidt, in a Porsche 911 Turbo, had the fastest time in the 49-car field that made up the GT Invitational.

Behind him in the GTP1 class were Russ Timmons and Michael Stevenson, also Edmonton entries. Half of the racers in the final event of the day were from the city and all five classes were on the track for the session.

Lanny Curlett, Jeff Willox and Ralph Zutter took the top three spots in the GTP2. The GTP3s top finishers were: Rick Chandler, Greg Lutomski and Dominic Knight.

Larry Hampton, Kelly Ann Hampton and Stewart Mcnair took the Vintage class while Brian Sinfield, Jed Harrison and Brooke Carter were the top GTP4 drivers.

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